Under the amendment passed by voters in November 2021 to legalize recreational cannabis, only owners of cannabis businesses are required to submit their fingerprints to the Missouri Highway Patrol for criminal background check. New legislation passed by the Missouri Senate would require all employees, contractors, and volunteers of cannabis businesses to undergo the fingerprinting process as well.
Employees of cannabis businesses in the state are required to undergo a background check but do not have to get fingerprinted. The new bill also makes changes to background check protocols for schools and childcare facilities. The bill now awaits approval after being sent to the governor’s desk.
Bill sponsor Senator Holly Thompson Rehder said in March the fingerprinting bill puts the state in line with federal regulations, however, there are no federal regulations for the cannabis industry since cannabis is still federally illegal. The federal government has given some guidance to states in the past and each state handles background checks differently. In California, only owners are required to go through fingerprint-based background checks while in Arizona all employees, board members, owners and volunteers must go through fingerprint-based background checks.
The measure was met with support from both the Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS), which oversees the state’s cannabis program, and the Missouri Cannabis Trade Association, which represents cannabis professionals and business owners.
“We think that these provisions are important to protecting public safety and public health at the state with the product that we regulate,” said Ben Terrell, legislative director for DHSS. “The Constitution under medical marijuana and under recreational marijuana requires us to do background checks. In order to do those background checks, we have to have statutory authority that the FBI recognizes, and that is why we are putting the statutory language forward. We’ve been working in close partnership with DPS to make sure we get it right so that we can actually do those background checks with them.”
As the state sets various sales milestones, the booming cannabis industry has also led to the creation of thousands of jobs in the state as the number of “agent ID badges” given by the state each month has more than quadrupled since November—from 264 to more than 1,100 badges awarded in both January and February. According to the DHSS, there were 12,970 individuals with cannabis agent IDs in February, up from 10,100 in November 2022.
“Billion-dollar markets like Michigan, Illinois, and Massachusetts employ anywhere between 30,000 and 50,000 workers in the cannabis industry,” said Sloane Barbour, the CEO of engin, a technology platform that helps cannabis companies hire hourly workers. “It’s enormous job growth, and it really happens quite quickly. So we are seeing customers and partners in Missouri aggressively and actively hiring.”
Missouri’s cannabis industry recently topped the $1 billion threshold in cumulative cannabis sales just three months after legalizing recreational cannabis, with the state bringing in over $100 million in cumulative sales in its first month of recreational cannabis sales after beginning in early February. Medical cannabis sales began in Missouri in October 2020.
“Missouri’s newest billion-dollar industry is experiencing significant job growth, providing great products and services to Missourians, and becoming an integral part to the local economy throughout the state,” said Andrew Mullins, the executive director of the Missouri Cannabis Trade Association. “Missouri has avoided so many of the early hiccups that other states have experienced transitioning from a medical cannabis program focusing on quality, affordability, access and selection. Missouri’s cannabis program could not have gotten off to a better start. A sincere thank you to all the patients, customers, and small business owners that helped Missouri reach this impressive milestone.”
